


Morning Light

by squire



Series: Late Night [3]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Asphyxiation, Bitter Exes, Blow Jobs, Christmas, Feelings Realisation, Forgiveness, Getting Back Together, Hux is rather slow on the uptake, Kylo is a massive brat, Look at them having an actual discussion, M/M, Neighbouring shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-18 02:40:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21920461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/squire/pseuds/squire
Summary: Hux has plenty of time to think on what happened in the days leading up to Christmas.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Series: Late Night [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1565527
Comments: 75
Kudos: 153





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is it, the last fic in this series. Let's find out to what lengths Kylo will have to go before Hux's resolve snaps... 
> 
> Note: this fic won't make a speck of sense without reading the last chapter of the previous one in the series. If the smut tags are not your thing, the last chapter doesn't have any but helps to explain why they're broken up at the beginning of this.

Hux woke into the cold and bleary light of the next morning with a battle plan already forming in his head. 

First off, damage control. His own subdivision would have his back, he trained them well. He didn’t need to worry about insubordination from his own people. Now to Rae Sloane. She wasn’t one to have fucks to spare for the office gossip mill. But she was also retiring and her mentoring hand wouldn’t be shielding Hux for long. The board of directors would most likely be a problem here. Not that they cared about Hux’s personal life in the slightest, they were only too quick to bow to the whims of some of the wealthier and very elusive stakeholders. If any of them got it into their head that they didn’t want any conflict of interest with the government…

And then there was the matter of Peavey. 

On one hand, Hux should be probably grateful to him. God knows how long Kylo - or Ben, whatever - would have played him if Peavey didn’t burst his bubble. What Kylo was getting out of his little stunt was anyone’s guess, and Hux didn’t particularly want to take one. 

And gratefulness was also the last thing on his mind. The old bastard tried to undermine him. Might even have succeeded. But Hux was going to make sure Peavey wouldn’t get to gloat about it. 

The audit a couple of weeks ago - the one that Hux prepared so carefully for and passed with flying colours. Hux vaguely remembered that Peavey had claimed his division was understaffed and requested a postponement for after the next quarter. It was granted to him without question as his credibility within the company was unblemished. Hux quickly pulled up the yearly overviews. Peavey’s division had requested postponement for the last five years running, and in three instances managed to evade audit completely. Their accounts were always in impeccable order at the end of the next financial year, so nobody ever got suspicious. 

Two well-placed phone calls later, and Hux allowed himself an extra dollop of cream in his coffee. If his suspicion was correct, Peavey would be fresh on the job market come New Year. 

Now, moving the damage control from his job onto the more personal level: that one should, at least, come as naturally to Hux as breathing. He had no shortage of experience in dealing with hook-ups who were hoping for a repeat performance. Hux was no expert on dating but he was extremely good at ghosting. 

Pity that one couldn’t really ghost their own neighbour. 

*

There was dead silence from the other side of their shared wall when Hux got back from work that day and he’d almost hoped Kylo was going to be an adult about it and move on…

...up until five minutes before ten when the quiet was replaced by the pervasive beat and electronic keyboard chords of a pop song. 

It took Hux several seconds of disbelieving puzzlement before he identified the tune. Then he groaned. Damn it, he’d specifically avoided stores and coffee shops, he banned Spotify in his office, he’d almost made it to Christmas day this year without hearing Last Christmas! 

And the worst offence was that Kylo wasn’t even blasting that atrocity on a volume that would warrant a noise complaint. Hux couldn’t really do anything about it without outing himself to the entire building as the Grinch. 

He contemplated going over and ask Kylo politely to knock it off but that was undoubtedly what Kylo wanted, and that wouldn’t be happening. The music wasn’t even loud, it was simply annoying. There was a message behind it:  _ I know what makes you tick. _

Hux ignored it. After all, gentle music like that was easily dealt with when one put in a pair of reliable earplugs. Which he did. Then he switched off his bedside lamp and closed his eyes in blessed peace. 

And immediately cracked them open when a strange blinking light invaded his bedroom, disturbing the darkness. Hux rolled over, staring at the window. He’d specifically chosen the apartment on the topmost floor so that all he saw out of the windows were the roofs of the buildings on either side, there shouldn’t be anything…

...the outline of Santa’s sleigh made of Christmas lights blinked merrily on Kylo’s balcony adjacent to his own. Fucking hell. There must have been hundreds of multicoloured LEDs, filling Hux’s bedroom with psychedelic glow. 

Fuming, Hux climbed out of his bed and pulled down the blinds. The blinking dimmed a little but Hux could still see it even with his eyes closed. Eventually, he managed to fall asleep.

The splitting headache he woke up with was a terrible start to even worse day. 

He was already running a bit late - not  _ late _ late, merely too late to be his customary 10 minutes early - when he walked out of his flat to see the elevator door starting to close… with Kylo Ren inside the cabin. 

A split second decision. Either let this one go, be  _ actually _ late but avoid any awkwardness, or get in and face it like a man. After all, the only one acting like child here was Kylo Ren. Hux had nothing to feel awkward for. Hux intercepted the door optical sensor with his foot just in time. The door dutifully slid back open and no, Hux didn’t imagine the expression of embarrassment on Ren’s face, or the tell-tale reddening of his ears. Maybe he’d already seen the error of his ways, Hux thought with satisfaction as he took his place inside the cabin. Maybe a gentle voice of reason was all Ren needed to accept defeat. 

“So, don’t you think you’ve been laying on the festivities a bit too thick?” Hux asked, keeping his tone kind and smile polite, as they waited for the door to start closing again. 

Ren grinned. And it wasn’t the disarming, cheeky, genuine grin Hux knew. This was a cold, teeth revealing,  _ You’ve stepped right into my trap _ grin that crushed all the false hopes hiding under Hux’s false politeness. 

“You’re a mean one, Mr. Grinch,” Kylo intoned, and then jumped out of the door just as it was sliding shut. But not before he smacked his hand down the control panel, lighting up every single button from their floor down to the basement. 

Hux still stared at the door with his jaw slack when the cabin stopped on the next floor on its way down. He only snapped out of the sheer disbelief when the door slid open to reveal Mr. Snoke, his downstairs neighbour and the owner of the complex. The man cracked a rotten smile and began his shuffling way in. Hux muttered a half-hearted greeting-apology and sneaked past him and out, heading for the stairwell. 

“Really, Mr. Hux?” Snoke croaked after him when he noticed the state of the buttons. Hux’s gut churned with the indignity but he couldn’t stop to explain. He was already late, he didn’t have time to deal with Ren’s childish pranks.

*

The next humiliation came when he opened his work mail, and the first thing he saw was the link to the folder titled “Christmas party photo album” on the company’s shared drive. Honestly, some people should’ve been banned owning a camera. Hux had no intention of even look at the photos, wallowing in that disaster was beneath him. 

“Wow, I didn’t even know I’d taken this shot! I could have it framed for you, you both look really great here.”

Startled, Hux minimized the image and glared over his shoulder at Dopheld who was leaning over from his desk with a beaming, guileless smile. 

“That wouldn’t be necessary,” he dismissed the offer. “But the photos are good,” he softened the blow when he saw Dopheld’s face fall. Dopheld was one of the best people on Hux’s team but damn if his eagerness to please didn’t grate on Hux’s nerves. 

“Well, the lighting was shit most of the time but I gotta say you two positively popped in that one,” Dopheld’s enthusiasm immediately bounced back. “It’s a bit like light and dark, but so well matched...”

Hux tuned him out. 

The photo, however, somehow stayed at the back of his opened tabs all day. 

He would never admit it to Dopheld but it was, in fact, a very good candid shot. Sharp in the focus on their faces despite the motion of the moment, Hux’s face alight with a radiant smile - he was pretty sure he had never smiled for a photo like that. And Kylo, caught mid-stride, with his expression much gentler but no less warm, eyes intense and fixed on nothing but Hux... it was the moment just after Rae Sloane’s announcement, just before they hugged. 

Just before it all fell apart. 

Just before the end of his hours, Hux found himself again clicking through the album. Kylo was in quite a few shots, and Hux would almost suspect Dopheld of a sudden crush if he wasn’t rather painfully aware of the man’s puppyish devotion towards himself. But the abundance of pictures was good for something. He could study Kylo’s expressions, his body language, his demeanour as the evening progressed… all through the eyes of an outside beholder. 

And tried as he might, Hux couldn’t find any hint of Kylo’s subterfuge. The man in the photos was reserved, but more naturally shy than cautiously hiding something. He smiled, but not with glee at having pulled a successful prank, just with simple happiness. Happiness to be at Hux’s side. To be in love. 

Maybe they could go back and pick up the pieces. Maybe Hux could swallow his pride for once and give it a try. 

The tentative determination lasted Hux exactly until the moment he pulled up into the garage under in their apartment complex and found Kylo’s van parked over the line separating his and Hux’s designated spots. There was not enough room for Hux to squeeze his car in and he had to drive around the block for 15 minutes before he found a free spot by the sidewalk. In the rain. He was soaked and freezing by the time he got back into his flat. 

Kylo Ren clearly lived to annoy him and did not care for olive branches. Well, that was all fine with Hux. He had patience. Kylo was bound to run out of ideas sooner or later. 


	2. Chapter 2

“Armitage, a word.”

Hux nodded, expression stony, and huffed out a breath only after Rae Sloane turned to glide back into her office, expecting him to follow. 

Last workday before the start of Christmas holidays, and this was it. It wasn’t like Hux didn’t expect this. Though, in all honesty, Hux didn’t know how he would cope with the unceremonious demotion that was most likely waiting for him. He wasn’t used to stepping back from his plans. In all the five years with this company, all he ever did was rise. It had made him many things, but popular wasn’t one of them.

He glanced at the notice in his drafts. Perhaps he could retain his dignity and beat them to the punch of sacking him… but with a shake of the head, he decided against it. Not yet. 

He suppressed the spike of resentful anger when he walked past Sloane’s opened door and caught the glint of the ‘Chief Executive Officer’ plate on it. This should have been his - and most likely never will be. 

“You wanted to speak with me, ma’am?”

Rae motioned him to sit in front of her desk. There wasn’t much left on it - her work agenda was already archived and sorted, her personal things packed in a box by the wall. 

“Yes, I did. It seems that this company is facing the need of a certain… reorganisation.”

Hux refused his sinking feeling show. He waited. If she wanted to take away his promotion, he wasn’t going to spell it out for her. 

“Edrison Peavey has handed in his resignation, after some rather… disturbing findings in his audit, as you’re no doubt aware.”

That wasn’t what Hux expected to hear now, even though it did cheer him up a little. At least he’d made sure he would not go down alone. He returned Sloane’s knowing smirk with an innocently raised eyebrow. 

“Come on, Armitage, of course you’re aware,” she laughed, her teeth flashing with a spark of vindictive mirth. She mustn’t have liked Peavey either. 

“Though I understand your discretion, considering.” She paused. 

Oh yes,  _ considering _ . Hux resisted the urge to fiddle with something. 

“The fallout from the Peavey’s thing had quite a few heads rolling,” Sloane changed the topic back and Hux cursed internally.  _ Stop playing with me like a cat with a mouse and get on with it- _

“The board decided that the best course of action would be the merging of some divisions, segregation of others and a thorough restructuralization of the upper management,” she continued. “As a result, my own position as you know it will be terminated by the end of the year.” 

Oh.  _ That _ was unexpected. At least it wouldn’t count as being denied promotion when there was nothing to be promoted to… 

“Which is quite unfair to you, isn’t it, Armitage?” 

She suddenly put her palms on the desk, leaning forward. “Tell me: would you have gone through with your little revenge scheme if you knew it’d cost you even the slight chance at promotion you still had?”

Hux met her sharp stare dead on. Sloane was his mentor, she taught him every tactic he knew: both the virtuous and the unsavoury. He shrugged. 

“Peavey was a liability to this company,” he pointed out. “And frankly? I don’t care about where I end up. I just wanted him gone.”

The words left surprised even himself. Uncharacteristically direct and bitterly truthful. This wasn’t like him… but all the same, it was. 

At least Sloane seemed to think so, because she suddenly smiled. 

“Good.” 

It strangely felt like passing a test Hux wasn’t aware of taking. 

Sloane shuffled some of the spare papers on her desk and pulled up a large envelope. 

“With so many changes ahead of us, I was wondering if you’d be up to the task of taking over the Swiss holding we acquired last month?”

The words took a second to register in Hux’s brain, and when they did, his vision blanked out for a moment. 

“Ma’am?”

“We need someone competent there. They nearly bent over backwards during the acquisition negotiations. I suspect there’s a lot they haven’t told us about the sanity of their investments. We need someone unafraid to make the cut. It would be a lot of work, Armitage.”

It would also be basically his own small empire. Hux could hardly believe his ears. As the CEO of an affiliated holding he’d have much more executive freedom than staying here, under the board’s thumb… 

“So, how soon can you move to Switzerland?”

Hux had no ties in New York. His flat was barely more than blank walls. He could be boarding the plane the next thing tomorrow. There was nothing to keep him, nobody...

“I’d like to think about it, ma’am.”

Curiously enough, she didn’t seem disappointed. Her smile only grew gentler. 

“Of course. You have until the New Year.”

*

That night, Hux opened a champagne he’d been saving for the countdown a week later, put on a favourite set of lingerie, and drank half the bottle in celebration of his success - and the rest of it as an attempt to erase the nagging feeling that celebrating alone was no longer as satisfying as it used to be. 

He leaned back to rest his head on the sofa and shifted when the boning of his corset immediately dug into his ribs in protest to such a lazy posture. The lacing was tight, not enough to severely constrict his breathing but enough to never let him forget what he was wearing, an expensive discomfort that Hux saved for special occasions. If putting it on was arousing, getting out of it was positively orgasmic. 

With half-lidded eyes he looked around the flat, taking it in through the haze of bubbles at the back of his mind. Despite the Christmas Eve due tomorrow, there was nothing that would remind him of that awful season in his little sanctuary. No ornaments and no greenery save for the few stray needles that stuck to the soles of his shoes from the explosion of greenery that ‘decorated’ Ren’s door and made mess of the entire hallway. 

Ren… Ren had been strangely quiet today. No tasteless pranks so far. Maybe he was finally giving up. 

Hux closed his eyes. He must have dozed off because when he opened them again, Kylo Ren was kneeling in front of the sofa, head resting against the inside of Hux’s knee. 

The champagne had mellowed him, bubbles clouding his judgement. Otherwise he didn’t know why his first impulse wasn’t kicking the man squarely in the chest. No. He reached out and ruffled Kylo’s hair. The wayward plumber wore his usual clothes but his hair was still as luxurious and shiny as the last time Hux could appreciate it properly. On the party. He didn’t get to touch them there, and now he could pull them to his heart’s content…

“You took the spare key, didn’t you.”

“You never told me I shouldn’t.”

And wasn’t that just a prime example of Kylo’s logic? Hux laughed. Oh God, he had missed this. Missed his brat. 

“And you think this is all it takes? Saying you’re sorry?”

Kylo shook his head slowly, cheek rubbing over the smooth skin of Hux’s inner thigh. Hux was glad he left out the stockings tonight. The sensation of skin on skin was electrifying. 

“Not saying. Showing.” Kylo’s voice was deep and pleading. “Let me, Hux. Please. I’ll be so good for you.”

Kylo’s lips traced the pattern of freckles up Hux’s leg towards the lace covering his groin. It would be so easy to let him. He shouldn’t. 

Maybe the Christmas spirit was really getting to him, because he did. 

Pushing the waistband of his tiny panties down and pulling his cock out was such a relief - he wasn’t even aware how much the sight of apologetic Kylo on his knees affected him. 

“Go on. Give me your best,” he grinned, and Kylo dived in. 

He took him as far as he could on the first go, gripping the rest in one hand, the other braced on the floor. The shock of heat and tight suction had Hux’s eyes rolling in the back of his head. He loved Kylo’s hands, the unbelievable size of them, how perfectly they could wrap around him - but not now. Kylo had to work harder today. He tapped Kylo’s knuckles.

“Hands behind your back. Grab your wrists.” 

Kylo whined around his cock - the position would kill his bad shoulder and be hell of a strain on his knees and thighs - but obeyed, sucking with doubled enthusiasm. Hux's chest felt suddenly too small, the corset digging into his lower ribs as they tried to expand, and he willed himself to draw controlled, measured breaths. Damn, it's been too long. 

Kylo’s tongue was doing magic along his cock, with long flat licks as he drew his head back, curling and rubbing along the vein on the underside, getting further and further down with each bob of his head. Soon Hux could feel the yielding tightness around the head of his cock as it hit the back of Kylo’s throat - when Kylo pulled off, coughing and gasping for breath. He was going too fast. 

“I’m sure you can do better than this.”

Kylo nodded, the corners of his downcast eyes wet, chastised. His previous sloppy job has left streaks of spit all along the length of Hux’s cock and he cleaned it with thorough laps of his tongue before he pulled Hux back in, all the way to the back of his throat. He was ready now, relaxed, and swallowed with a moan, the ripple of muscle around the head of Hux’s cock sending blinding bursts of pleasure up his spine. So good. Hux tipped his head back, riding out the pleasure for a while. He could have Kylo like this every day and never get tired of it. 

But after a couple of minutes it became clear that Kylo was starting to have a hard time maintaining the position. Half-risen on his knees to be in the best angle, his legs were shaking with the strain and he spread them to better keep his balance. Hux’s cruel streak flared up when he noticed. His pleasure mounted as he watched Kylo give up control over the spit running down his chin, his lips getting raw and puffy with work, the red spreading around his eyes from lack of breath. And despite all of it - no,  _ because _ of it, Hux remembered it well - the bulge in the front of Kylo’s jeans was impossible to overlook, betraying just how much he was enjoying this. 

It was doing more for Hux to see him struggling and getting off on it than the velvety heat around his cock, and he couldn’t have that. No good to let Kylo get away with sloppiness just because he was pretty. 

Hux shifted one of his legs and brought it up enough for the sharp-toed sole to rest against Kylo’s groin. 

“I said give me your best,” Hux said, applying the slightest pressure with his foot. The effect was immediate. Kylo shuddered and moaned, hips rutting against the sole, and took Hux back into his mouth, establishing a nearly perfect rhythm. 

The little incentive had helped him, gave him something to focus on, some level of self-control. He used broad laps of his tongue to caress what he couldn’t reach with his lips and on every pull, he hollowed his cheeks, creating tight friction that had Hux seeing stars. He was perfect. 

Which was why the only warning Kylo got was the tightening of Hux’s fist in his hair before his head was yanked unceremoniously away from Hux’s cock. It physically hurt to deny himself so close to the edge but Hux had a lesson to drive home here. Kylo was not going to win his forgiveness by being simply the best at anything. Hux was in control, and Kylo was at his mercy. 

When Kylo attempted to lick around Hux’s cock again, he found he couldn’t move an inch, held back by the strong grip on his hair. His nostrils flared and his eyes widened with something between anger and hurt. Hux laughed. 

“Did you really think it would be so easy? With you slobbering here like a beast, it seems I have no other option than to use you as I see fit.”

Kylo opened his mouth to protest and Hux silenced him with the head of his cock. He pushed past the circle of his lips and down, and down still, past the resistance of Kylo’s throat and in, and it was perfection. He could see Kylo’s face go red with exertion, the tears springing into his eyes, the tendons in broad shoulders jumping. He could see him fighting the urge to let go of his own wrists, push Hux’s hands away and pull off - but he didn’t. 

A patch of wetness formed on the front of Kylo’s jeans under the pressure of his shoe and Hux remembered something Kylo said more than two months ago.  _ I bet I’d love choking on your dick. _

“I should’ve done this after the party.”

Kylo’s throat spasmed as he gagged despite his best efforts and Hux pulled off to allow him a breath. Kylo looked up to him, eyes glazed over with pleasure but so pleading, so hopeful-

“Have you right there in my car and let you choke on your apology,” Hux continued and shoved himself back in, revelling in the cut-off sob Kylo let out, the shaking of his entire body. The pressure around his cock was so exquisite, if only Kylo could hold out a little longer-

“Once more. Once more and I’ll let you rest,” Hux soothed Kylo when he pulled out again. He wondered if Kylo even heard him over the frantic gasping for breath. The tears ran across his face unrestrained now, hair stuck to his forehead with sweat. And still he opened his mouth again, so obedient, so sweet-

The blaring of the house fire alarm jolted Hux and he nearly fell to the floor, flailing and righting himself in the last second. The nearly empty bottle wasn’t so lucky, it crashed against the hardwood and shattered into a thousand tiny shards. The shock of cold air hit Hux’s body and he shivered, feeling sick and disoriented. 

There was no Kylo, of course. The front of his expensive pants was ruined with precome, he was painfully hard, he’d drooled in his slumber all over himself and there was a fire alarm. 

The fucking fire alarm. 

Hux stumbled out of the room, wobbling with the drink and dizziness from the abrupt waking up. He kicked off the heels and grabbed his robe. There was no time to get out of his corset. If the building was on fire he had to run.

He looked out into the communal hallway and immediately started to cough. The entire corridor was filled with thick grey smoke, Hux could barely see through it. He couldn’t feel any heat though, maybe the fire was on one of the lower floors - damn, he couldn’t use the elevator, could he? There was something in the building’s safety regulations about it. He’d have to take the stairs. Every floor had a fire door leading to the stairwell, he should have been safe there. Feeling along the walls, he counted the doors - this was Mrs. Kanata’s, empty, she had dropped by earlier this week with a plate of cookies and told him she was going to spend the holidays at her partner’s place - this was Miss Netal’s, also empty, Bazine was a dancer in a gentlemen’s club and wouldn’t be back until morning - and that would be all, Kylo’s door was in the opposite wall…

Kylo. Hux stopped. It was late when he started celebrating, it was much later now. Kylo was likely asleep by now, and the man could sleep like the dead. He wouldn’t hear anything.

The smoke scratching at the back of his throat and forcing angry tears into his eyes, Hux backtracked his steps until his hands encountered the prickly abomination of a wreath on Kylo’s door. 

He yanked it off and started ringing the bell, alternating it with pounding on the door. 

“Kylo!!! For God’s sake Kylo wake up!”

He should have got a wet cloth to put over his face. He’d seen that in the movies. His head was starting to spin, his throat was closing up, and Kylo wasn’t opening his door.


	3. Chapter 3

Hux felt his way down the stairwell, gripping the rail with sweaty hands and counting the floors under his breath. He didn’t want to miss the lobby and end up in the basement. His eyes wouldn’t stop tearing and were so puffy he could barely see anything. The cold concrete of the stairs was rough on his bare feet but he stumbled down as fast as he could, cursing himself for forgetting to grab his phone when he left his flat in panic. 

Kylo didn’t answer his door. Hux hated himself for it but he had to give up and flee before he’d pass out from the smoke filling his lungs. He’d have to hope somebody had already called the fire department. Or perhaps their fire alarm was monitored? Hux didn’t know. He would tell the firemen about Kylo. 

Finally his itching eyes caught the light coming from the lobby, along with the murmur of voices coming through the glass door. He could recognise figures - his neighbours - there was the unmistakable silhouette of Mr. Snoke, leaning heavily on his cane, and Hux opened his mouth to call out to them but all that got out was a whacking cough. 

Fuck, he needed water. 

“...you sure we shouldn’t call them?”

That was Miss Tico from the first floor, and Hux wanted to cry out what the fuck of a question was that, of course they should, there was  _ fire _ -

-when he heard another voice from the group of people that made him nearly keel over in relief. 

“No, I swear it’s nothing. Just a bit of smoke, I’m really sorry about that. It was an accident. It went off on our floor and triggered the alarm. The smoke is non-toxic, it will disperse on its own, so you can safely return home, it won’t bother you-”

Hux was so dizzy with happiness that Kylo made it down safely that at first his words didn’t even register. 

“Mr. Ren, you should be really more careful with your stuff,” came the disapproving voice of Mr. San Tekka from the third floor. 

“I’m really sorry about that, sir. I’d been smoke testing pipes today and I forgot to put the bombs away properly, and as I was taking out the keys tonight it snagged and pulled the pin, it was an accident-”

What was Kylo talking about? Smoke testing?  _ Smoke bombs? _

“Heh, guess at least we know that our fire alarm works,” Miss Tico laughed, wrapping her arms around herself. She was in her pyjamas. “But I got a real fright. And what about poor Mrs. Kanata? She could’ve had a heart attack!”

“Oh, no, don’t worry. She’s away for the holidays. Number 28 too. Guess I got lucky.”

And from the mirth that suddenly creeped into Kylo’s voice, no longer trying to maintain the apologetic tone, Hux fucking  _ knew _ . 

“And what about Number 30? Mr. Hux?”

“Indeed, what about me, you asshole?” Hux pushed through the glass door, voice breaking on another cough. 

“Hux!” Kylo turned to him, something like genuine surprise breaking through his innocent facade. And then he drew himself up, lips pulling away from his teeth in a sneery grin. 

“Hey, I would’ve thought your coward legs would carry you down first-”

“Shut the fuck up!” Hux roared, striding until he was straight up Kylo’s stupid face. “You fucking idiot! Do you know how long I was up there breathing in that damn stuff and trying to break in your door so you wouldn’t fucking die in a fucking fire?!”

“There wasn’t any fire,” Kylo rolled his eyes. “It was just a bit of smoke.”

“You’ve taken this too far, you fucker!”

“Now, Mr. Hux, calm down,” Mr. San Tekka tried to intercept. “Kylo here said it was an accident-”

“Like the fuck it was!” Hux barked out. “Just like the jammed elevator, and the blocking of my parking spot, and the bird seed on my balcony - I spent hours cleaning the pigeon poop! But triggering the fire alarm - what the fuck were you  _ thinking? _ ”

The rest of the tenants saw their exit cue and scurried away. Except for Mr. Snoke. The old creep actually stalked closer, his wrinkled face contorted in an expression of poorly hidden glee. 

“Oh, if that’s true, then it sounds like enough grounds for eviction. Do you wish to file in a statement with me, Mr. Hux?”

Kylo shrank a little at that, his earlier mocking smugness all but gone. Perhaps he never thought his acting up would have consequences. Hux burned with malicious satisfaction. Those who crossed him never did. 

“Thank you, Mr. Snoke, but that won’t be necessary,” he said coldly. “I won’t be victimized by this behaviour much longer. Actually, I wanted to speak with you.” 

He turned to Snoke. “I’m moving out by the end of the year. I wanted to arrange with you the return of my deposit.”

“What?!” Kylo squeaked out but both men ignored him.

“Pity,” Snoke croaked. “You’ve been an exceptional tenant, Mr. Hux. I’m sure there will be no problem with your deposit. Now, if you excuse me, I’d like to retire… it’s been a rather, eh, exciting night, wasn’t it?”

Hux politely accompanied him to the elevator and then watched it go up. His throat still itched and his face felt swollen, and his robe did nothing to ward off the chill of the lobby. He decided to take the stairs to get his circulation running and some more air into his lungs. 

He managed three flights of stairs when Kylo finally caught up with him, taking the stairs two at a time. If he looked scared at the threat of eviction, now he looked positively terrified. He was panting and the hand he gripped the railing with was trembling, his knuckles white. 

“Wait! Hux… Are you - are you really leaving?”

Hux was cold, sick, and his bare feet hurt. He didn’t slow down. 

“Wasn’t that what you were aiming for with your pranks?”

“No! I- You weren’t supposed-”

Hux was so sick of excuses he felt like throwing up. He turned around and jabbed his finger in Kylo’s chest. 

“I almost thought you were just acting up to get my attention. Like the first time. Doing everything to get me take you over my knee and- whatever, start over? And I almost would’ve done it, Kylo!”

Hux felt fresh salt stinging in his eyes, and this time he couldn’t blame the smoke. Yes, he was sick, he was cold and clammy and disgusting, but above all, he was… heartbroken. 

“I thought you were going to die! I thought there was a real fire, I couldn’t get to you, I tried to get help and there you were, laughing at me! Look at that stupid fool Hux, nearly suffocating because he cared!”

“I’m sorry, Hux! I didn’t think-”

“I’m sure you didn’t,” Hux said bitterly. “You never cared. It was all just a fucking joke to you. And you almost got me, I’ll give you that.”

He turned away, resuming his trudging ascent. He didn’t want to look at Kylo. The man was obviously too good an actor, and Hux didn’t want to have it rubbed in his face. 

“Hux!” Kylo called out. Moved to follow him. Tripped over his feet and cursed. “At least let me explain-”

“And what is there to explain?” Hux reeled on him again. “What else is there than what you fucking  _ did? _ Games, lies and fucking pranks! You did everything to spite me, well congratulations, it worked!”

Kylo opened his mouth - and closed it again. He looked lost. There wasn’t anything he could say for himself, and Hux knew it. He lowered his voice, wishing his next words would cut deep. 

“At least you didn’t discredit my career, even though not for the lack of trying, with your fucking secret identity stunt. I was offered an excellent job in Switzerland and I’m going to take it. And I swear if I as much as see your face before I leave, I  _ am _ going to get you evicted.”

This time, when he turned to continue up the steps, Kylo Ren didn’t follow him. 

*

The following morning Hux woke up late. He stared at the ceiling and tried to piece together what was off. 

Oh yes. The psychedelic light show from the next balcony was gone. 

The communal hallway was freshly aired and the carpeting cleaned of any dirt by the time Hux ventured out. The obnoxious bush of greenery from Kylo’s door was gone, too. 

The parking slot next to Hux’s was already empty when Hux came down to get his car.

It was a quiet Christmas Eve. He got some groceries and some good whiskey. Went to the St. Patrick’s, lit a candle, said a prayer for his mother. Not that he believed anymore, it was just a habit that stuck. Went home, applied for a working visa in Switzerland and spent the rest of the day going over the contents of the envelope Sloane gave him the day before. 

Christmas Day followed in the same vein of quiet and notable absence of annoyances. Sleeping in, hot chocolate, obligatory Merry Christmas gif sent to the whole company’s email. Then he went to the Wollman Rink in Central Park in the late morning, took advantage of relatively free ice while the families were still at home opening presents, and skated until he couldn’t feel his feet. 

He wondered if Kylo was somewhere in Washington D.C. or wherever the Senator Organa lived. Opening presents with his family. 

He finished off the first bottle of whiskey before the light was out, and spent the rest of the day sleeping. 

Boxing Day rolled by just as uneventful. Hux’s office had reduced hours but he came in anyway, to sort out his agenda and prepare everything for his imminent leave. It’s taken him the better part of the day. He didn’t mind. Braving the streets full of people trying to return or exchange gifts that missed the mark would require more patience than Hux had. It was several hours after the sun went down when he finally parked his car back in the garage, and Kylo’s spot was still empty. 

With the amount of sleep he accumulated during the past few days, Hux didn’t feel tired. He took a long bath and then decided to start packing the less used stuff in his apartment. No point in putting it away until the actual move day. 

As it turned out, the majority of the stuff in his apartment was something he didn’t need on a daily basis. He was pretty sure some of the things were still in the spot where he put them when he moved in from London. It was almost midnight when he started stacking the books, and realized he’d run out of cardboard boxes. 

Right. He got some on his way home today. They were still in the car.

The elevator pinged quietly when he reached the basement garage and he expected the door open to chilly darkness. Well, the draught hit him immediately, making him tie the sash of his robe tighter around himself, but the overhead motion-activated lights were already on. Hux heard the sound of a rickety engine. Someone was coming home late. 

Hux had just walked out from behind a pillar when he stopped and took an involuntary step back. Next to his car stood Kylo’s white van, the headlights just gone out with a pop. Through the reflection of fluorescent lights overhead, Hux could just about make out the silhouette of Kylo’s head, resting briefly on his forearms braced against the wheel. He didn’t move for a moment and then he climbed out of the van, every movement slow and heavy as if weighed down with bone-deep exhaustion. 

Hux hadn’t seen the man in three days but it looked as if he aged by years. It could have been a trick of the mortuary-like light but Kylo’s eyes looked almost undead. Deep circles underlined them, and his mouth was pulled down into a scowl that reminded Hux of the early days of their interactions, the ball of dark mood and unhappiness he’d meet in the hallway every now and then. Anger and animosity, that was all how he used to know Kylo Ren and perhaps it was all that Ren had ever been.

Kylo’s eyes caught on the shiny M5 standing next to his van and his heavy steps faltered. He came closer, almost as if drawn by an unseen force, his hand outstretched, and Hux wanted to jump up and curse him out because if Kylo was going to key his car Hux was going to fucking  _ end _ him-

-but Kylo wasn’t keying his car. He was simply touching it, passing his fingers along the smooth line of the roof… and then, right there in front of Hux’s incredulous eyes, he broke. 

It was like watching a mask fall away. Kylo slid down to sit on the concrete floor, knees drawn to his chest, arms around himself, and cried with loud, wracking sobs. Gone was the angry, scary, intimidating man. This man on the floor was just scared, alone, and utterly devastated. 

Ever since that damned Christmas party Hux thought that the sweet, vulnerable Kylo he got to know privately was just a mask put on for laughs, and that the real Kylo was exactly that malicious, haughty pain in the ass he always had been. But now he saw the real mask and the cracks in it, and the cracks were sharp like glass and bleeding with sorrow. 

Everything Hux struggled with for the past couple of days suddenly became very simple. 

The soft rubber soles of his slippers weren’t making any sound as he walked over, coming to a halt in front of Kylo.

“I know you don’t take orders from guys in fluffy cat slippers, but would you listen to one if he asked you to come upstairs to talk?”

In one second, Kylo was just looking up at him, frozen, incredulous, mouth agape - and in the other he lunged forward, sliding onto his knees and wrapping his arms around Hux’s legs, mashing his face into the soft material of his robe. He was sniffing and hiccuping and holding on for dear life, and Hux was glad for it. His heart suddenly felt so light that he would surely float away otherwise. 

Hux’s hands found their way into Kylo’s hair on their own accord and damn, he  _ missed _ this. So much. 

“Come on, up with you,” he sighed and tugged, and Kylo let out a sound - not of pleasure, and not even of pain. It sounded like a surprise, an utter shock from the  _ end _ of the pain, and Hux wanted to wrap himself around Kylo and never let either of them hurt each other again. 

They somehow made it to the elevator, Kylo still clinging to Hux like to a lifeline. Though his steps faltered and came to an uncertain halt when instead to his own door, Hux walked over to Kylo’s. 

“My- my place?” 

It would be a first. They always went to Hux’s. Hux nodded, squeezing his hand lightly. “You look like you could do with a cup of hot cocoa, and I’m out of milk.”

The truth was, there were half-packed boxes all over Hux’s flat, and Kylo was barely holding it together as it was. He didn’t need the reminder of Hux’s moving out right now. 

To his surprise, Kylo hiccuped out something like a chuckle. “You never had milk.”

“True,” Hux acknowledged with a small smile, waiting for Kylo to wrestle with the lock. “It’s just something my mother used to make me when I was upset.”

At least, with the mirroring layout of their flats, Hux had no trouble finding the kitchen. He was surprised, but kept it to himself, how little personal touch there seemed to be to Kylo’s flat. A boxing bag half-blocking the short hallway. A bunch of tangled Christmas lights stuffed in a plastic bag thrown in a corner. A flat TV mounted to the wall with what seemed like old moving cardboard box underneath in the place of a table. Almost as if Kylo merely survived here, just like Hux next door. 

But Kylo’s fridge was at least decently filled. Hux poured out a cup of milk, put it into a microwave and looked through the cabinets for the cocoa. Kylo sat gingerly at the kitchen table and looked as if he didn’t know what to do with himself. So Hux started.

“My parents married when my mother was four months along with me. Child out of wedlock was a big no-no with the Irish, so they ended up at the registry office, ‘making it right’. It was never right.”

Telling it like this, after midnight in a stranger’s kitchen, felt strange. But then, he never shared the story with anyone before. 

“When I was about five, my father finally agreed to a divorce. Turned out he had a mistress who he wanted to marry. It became quite the theme over the years, he was on a wife number five when he finally kicked the bucket. My mother couldn’t have run away faster. Didn’t even fight for the custody.”

He measured out the spoons of cocoa powder and stirred it into the milk. The cup wasn’t the right kind for the microwave, the ceramic was blistering hot but the milk inside barely lukewarm. He never learned how to actually make cocoa, never had one since he was five. He hoped it would do.

“I loved her so much… and she left. Just like that. I don’t even know if she’s still alive. So that’s it. Now you.”

He handed Kylo the cup and pursed his lips when he took in his uncomprehending face. 

“Your turn,” he prompted. “Tell me about your mom.”

And so Kylo did. They eventually left the kitchen in favour of the living room couch, a hand-me-down thing that must have once stood in a cinema theatre lobby, so much it still smelled of popcorn. It was still good enough for Kylo to lie down with his head in Hux’s lap while he talked, the whole goddamn story of Leia Organa’s off-again, on-again marriage and motherhood, about moving from embassy to embassy, about Senate campaigns and media exposure, about expectations and disappointments and anger management therapy and thousands other little things that resulted in Ben Organa Solo legally changing his name to Kylo Ren and learning the first trade he had even the slightest talent for that could keep the roof over his voluntary exile.

“I was always kinda good at fixing things,” Kylo said. “Unfortunately couldn’t fix what was wrong between Mom and Dad. All I ever did was make it worse.”

“It’s not fair to expect a child to fix an already failing marriage.”

“Hmm.” Kylo settled more comfortably in Hux’s lap, blinking up at him. “I should’ve told you all this, before. The first thing. But… people usually don’t even want to know. They don’t care.”

Hux stroked his hair. “I’d like to think I’d have been better but I probably wouldn’t have,” he sighed. “I thought I was in love, at nineteen. Then I realised I wasn’t. After a while I thought I simply wasn’t cut out for it. There were people who knew how to care, and then there was me. No big deal.”

Kylo smiled. A little, pleased thing, almost proud. “But you do know, now.”

“God help me, I do,” Hux whispered. “And God help  _ you _ if you ever test me with a fucking smoke bomb again.”

Kylo ducked his head to hide his face in Hux’s belly and laughed. “There’s no smoke without a fire, they say....” He sneaked one hand up to flick the loose strand of hair falling over Hux’s forehead and Hux swatted it away.

“I mean it, you brat.”

“I know. You were fucking terrifying when you yelled at me. I nearly popped a boner.”

“You little...”

“Then I realised I had just driven you away like fucking everybody in my life ever and it went away like a poof.” Kylo’s tone was still carrying the light joking note, but something scared was lurking in his eyes. Oh yes. There were still folded moving boxes waiting in Hux’s car, and a first class plane ticket to Switzerland with the first of January date on his home office desk. 

“Hm.” Hux considered him. “How attached are you to this place?”

Kylo’s eyes widened. He sat up. 

“Apart from my pants collection, there’s nothing I would regret watching it burn,” he said, utterly serious. The solemnity with which he mentioned his kinky underwear made Hux burst out laughing. 

“Fine,” he wheezed. “And how fast can you get a passport?”

“Diplomatic corps brat,” Kylo grinned. “Already have it. Dear mother insisted, even after the name change.”

“Well, that’s almost perfect.”

“I also speak a decent French, and enough-to-buy-me-breakfast German.”

“Now you’re really pitching yourself to me, aren’t you?”

“I’m just making it easier on your conscience. Giving you more reasons to take me with you besides just being madly in love with me.”

Hux snorted. “Pot, kettle, black. As if you didn’t raise hell just for being madly in love with me.”

“Nonsense. I was just trying to get my 400 bucks. You never paid me for fixing your fridge, you know. And now I’m due two months worth of interest, too.”

Hux stared at that cheeky brat for a moment, speechless, and then he kicked out his foot and grabbed his fluffy cat slipper. The flat rubber sole of it was ribbed to prevent slipping on smooth floors. The marks it would leave on skin would be simply perfect. 

Just like his brat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-daaaah! And that's the end of the saga. Cheers to all of you who stayed for the ride! 
> 
> Moral of the story? If you have a plumber over fixing your kitchen and you spot him wearing gay fetish pants, tell me about it. You might just get a 25k words worth of kinky story out of it.
> 
> Many thanks to Vee for the inspiration, oorsprong for helping me hash out the smut details, and heresetrash for cheering me along the most of it and suffering my 'my God why is writing smut so haaaard' rants.

**Author's Note:**

> Come join me in Kylux hell either on [Tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/sinningsquire) on or [Twitter.](https://twitter.com/SquiresBella)


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